Seal-lock.



P N. A n n 0 H FH w SEAL LQGK.

{Applcntion med Apr. 30, 189B.)

A2 SheetsSheet (No mmm.)

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WITNESSES:

) INVENTQR W y?! MC'HMML @www TTORNEY THE lNorms Pirna: co.. maremma., wAsNlNuroNfma No. 628,|6l. Patented luly 4, i899.

. W. F. HOMMAN.

SEAL LOCK.

(Applicatop led Apr. 3,0, `1898,) QN dem 2 Sheets-sheet 2 UNITED STATES PATENT OEEICE.

IVILLIAM FORREST HOMMAN, OF COLORADO SPRINGS, COLORADO, ASSIGNOR TO THE HOMMAN REGISTI-BRING LOCK COMPANY, OF COLORADO.

SEAL-LOCK.

SPECIFICATION forming part ofl Letters Patent No. 638,161, date muy 4, 18799. AppncnioniedAprnso,1899. sentira. 679,398. (Nomad.)

To a/ZZ whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM FoEEEsr I-IOMMAN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Colorado Springs, county of El Paso,

and State of Colorado, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Car-Locks, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form a part hereof.

My invention relates particularly to the class of locks used on the doors of freight-cars for the purpose of protecting their contents while in transit. As is well known, such cars have frequentlyto be opened while in transit, and it is necessary that whatever form of fastening may be employed forY securing the doors should be so arranged that it may be readily opened by station agents and conductors in the employment of the railway 2o company. The devices heretofore in common use for securing the doors of such cars have usually consisted Aof lead seals applied to wires or metallic strips and of locks of various forms secured with clay or metallic'strips so z 5 arranged that the door cannot be opened without destroying the seal. Such devices at the most merelyserve to show when they are left intact that th'e car-door has not been opened by any unauthorized person, and they are 3o open to the very serious objection of furnishing no'record as to the person by whom the caris opened in the ordinary course of business. As is well known, transportation companies using devices of this type have suffered heavy losses from thefts of freight by dishonest employees without being able to trace such thefts. Locks for car-doors have also been devised which were intended to indicate or record distinctive keys used by dif- 4o ferent persons for opening them-such, for example, as those described in United States Patents No. 208,033 to Pershall and No. 232,069 to Russell. My present invention relates to improvements upon locks of this class or type; and it is the object of my invention to provide a more eiiicient lock for such oars which can readily be opened by any person authorized t0 do so, but which preserves a permanent record within the lock of the im- 5o pression made by the keys used for unlocking it. By this means a record may be kept in tinctive impression.

In the drawings I have shown my invention as applied to a padlock of a well-known l type, in which a curved yoke-piece slides longitudinally in a recess in the body of the padlock and is adapted to be passed through and secured in the staple or other fastening to which it is to be applied. It is obvious, however, that the invention may be readily applied by suitable modification of the parts to any other form of padlock or to a lock having a sliding bolt, and, in fact, the sliding yoke-piece in the lock-which I have shown corresponds in function and substantially in construction to the sliding bolt of an ordinary lock.

Figure l is a plan view of a padlock constructed according tovmy invention with the cover and a portion of the internal parts removed. Fig. 2 is a plan View of part of the casing of the lock'. Fig. 3 is a view of the cover. Fig. fi is a plan view of the rotating disk carrying the blanks or seals. Fig. 5 is a longitudinal section of the lock through the line l 2 of Figs. l, 2, and 3. Fig. 6 is a crosssection of the same on the line 3 4 of Figs. 2, 3, and 4.- Figs. 7 and 8 are detached views of the blanks or seals used with the disk of Fig. 4, and Figs. 9, l0, and ll are views of the key or unlocking device.

The same letters of reference indicate like parts in each view.

The body of the lock consists of a back piece A and a front piece A', which together inclose and support the working parts of the lock.

B is a curved `yoke-piece sliding longitudinally in a recess formed in the parts A A. The part of the yoke at the left extends downward into a recess formed in the parts just mentioned; but at the right the yoke is'shortened, so that when it is drawn out of the recess the endv at the right may be slipped through a staple or other fastening, and when the yoke-piece is moved. downward and the end at the right is brought in Contact with the body of the lock, as shown in Fig. 1, the lock is secured in the staple. The extension IOO B of the yoke-piece carries at its lower end the pawl P, which engages with the teeth of a ratchet R. The ratchet is mounted upon a short shaft S, Fig. 5, and carries on its upper side an extension C, which passes through an opening in the upper part of the framework A. The part of this extension passing through the framework A is cylindrical in shape and constitutes an upper bearing for the ratchet; but the upper end is square. A detent D serves to prevent the ratchet from turning backward. As will be observed, the arrangement of the parts is such that when the yoke-piece B is drawn outward upon opening the lock the ratchet R is rotated, and when the yoke-piece is pushed inward for locking the pawl P slips back and engages with another tooth of the ratchet, so that upon opening the lock again the ratchet will be turned another tooth. The part A of the body of the lock, as shown in Fig. 2, is provided on its upper surface with an annular recess E for receiving the blanks or seals carried by the seal-disk F. (Best shown in Fig. 4.) This disk is provided with a square opening in the center, which tits over the square end of the extension C of the ratchet, so that the disk is turned with the ratchet. This disk, as shown in Fig. 4, is provided with a series ot' recesses g g about its periphery, and in these recesses are tted blanks of some material--such, for example, as lead-which, although plastic or compressible, has considerable strength. The recesses have their edges convex to engage with grooves in the sides of the blanks. 'lhese blanks are made, as shown in Fig. 8, with their bodies of substantially the same thickness with the disk F, but with projections p on their lower sides of substantially the same depth as the ann-ular recess E in the plate A.

In the lower part of the annular recesses E is a lug or stop L, extending upward, so as to just clear the body of the disk F and to lie in the path of movement of the projections p p of the blanks g, carried by the disk. vIt will be obvious that when the blanks g are in place the projections p will be arrested by the lug L, and this will prevent the disk and the ratchet connected with it from rotating. With the parts in this position when the yoke-piece B is pushed inward for locking it cannot be pulled outward again until the projection p on the blank in the disk F which happens to be in contact with the lug L' is removed or thrown out of engagement with the lug. For the purpose of throwing such projections p out of engagement with the lug for opening the lock a keyhole K is provided in the lower part of the body of the lock, through which a key or other suitable unlocking device may be passed for compressing the projection into a plane substantially coinciding with the lower plane of the disk carrying the blanks. A suitable form of key or unlocking device is shown in Figs. 9, 10, and ll. The part N, forming the key proper, is provided with a face M, which may be brought up against the lower face p of the seal in contact with the lug L and used to compress the projection by driving it back into the recess suciently to enable it to clear the lug. In practice I find it convenient to make the unlocking device in the form of a pair of pliers, as shown in Fig. 9, of which the key proper, N, with its extension O, forms one side. The other side Q R consists of a plain jaw Q and ahandle R, corresponding to the handle O. The jaw Q serves as a fulcrum for bearing against the casing of the lock and enabling the key proper to be pressed against the under side of the seal g with suiiicient force to vcompress it to the requisite extent. Fig. 10 is a view of the under side of the pliers, showing the key proper, N, at the left, and Fig. 11 is a view of the upper side of the key proper. The key and the part of the lock in which it is in serted may be constructed in any of the ways understood in the art so as to make it necessary to use a distinctive key for each lock. The face of the key or unlocking device is provided with some distinctive figure or symbol, las is shown at I in Fig. Il, so that when it is used for compressing the blank it leaves a seal or impression on the blank corresponding to such symbol or device. In practice each employee of a transportation company who is authorized to open a car will be provided with a key having some distinctive symbol, so that Whenever he uses it for the purpose of opening the lock he must necessarily leave an impression corresponding to his key upon the blank which is compressed by it.

After the lock has once been opened in the manner described it is obvious that it may be locked again by merely pushing in the yokepiece B and that the next blank g, carried by the disk F, will then come in contact with the lug L and again dog the lock, and to open it again the next blank in order will be cornpressed in the same manner, and the impression of the key used for producing this result will be left on such blank. In this manner a mere inspection of the disk F will show at anytime what keys have been used for opening the car and in what succession.

To enable the disk F to be taken out of the lock for inspection or for reii tting with blanks, the cover O, (best shown in Fig.r 3,) which protects it, is made removable. It is, as shown in Fig. 6, inserted in dovetail grooves in the casing A', so that it may be readily slipped out, but is normally locked in place byapin Q, fitted in a recess q in the plate. This pin is provided with any suitable form of'lock, so that it cannot be opened except with a key kept only by inspectors or other persons authorized to open the seal-box of the lock.

It will be observed that the compressible blanks carried by the disk F correspond in function to the dog or detent which serves in the ordinary lock to lock or dog the sliding bolt or other movable part against unlocking. So far as I am aware the use of IOO IIO

plastic or compressible material for such dog or detent is novel with me. It is obvious that any desired number of the plastic or compressible blanks may be used in the lock. For some purposes, where a lock is to be opened only once, the advantages of my inventionmay be secured by the use of only a single blank.

In order to prevent the removal of the key until the lock is closed, an arrangement of levers and dogs is provided, as shown in the lower part of Fig. l, for locking the key in the keyhole when it is inserted and releasing it when the yoke is pushed in for closing the lock. The lever a is arranged so that its outer end (at the left) is in the path of movement of the key, and it is normally pressed downward bythe spring shown at the right. ditional safeguard against opening the lock when the parts are in their normal position, a lug b on the lever a is arranged to dog the detent D and so lock the ratchet R when the lever a is not lifted by the key. A short upright lever c, carried by the lever a, impinges on the end of the yoke d, carried by the lever e, as the lever a is carried upward by the insertion of the key and swings the left-hand end of the yoke downward until it falls into the notch in the pawl P, which allows the spring applied to the lower end of the lever e to swing it to the right. A lug or hook fon the lower end of the lever e is by this means forced into a notch in the key (shown atv J in Figs. 10 and Il) and locks it in place.- .As the lever a moves upward the lug b swings past the heel of the detent D, and when the key has been used to compress the blank seal engaging with the lug L the yoke is free to be drawn out and the lock may be opened. rIhe key is, however,'still held in the lock by the hook on the lever e Auntil the yoke is pushed in again in closing the lock, when the pawl P slips into a tooth in the ratchet and, striking the left-hand end of the yoke d, drives the upper end of the lever e to the right and releases the lug or hook on its lower end from the notch in the key.

It is obvious that my invention is not confined to the form of lock nor to the precise details of construction which I have shown, as

the same principles of construction and oper- As an adationmay be applied to other forms of lockand the details of construction may be greatly varied. p

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l'. The combination in a lock of a movable yoke-piece or bolt, a dog or detent controlling the yoke-piece or bolt, and a stop in the line kof movement of the dog or detent, the said dog or detent being constructed of plastic or compressible material so that it may be thrown out of engagement with the stop by compressing it with a key or unlocking device, substantially as described.

2. The combination in a lock of a movable yoke-piece or bolt, a plate connected to and moved by the yoke or bolt on its unlocking movement, one or more dogs or detents carried by the plate, and. a stop or lug in the line of movement of the dogs or detents, each of the said dogs or detents being made of plastic or compressible material and adapted to be thrown out of enga-gement with the stop by compression with a suitable key or unlocking device, substantially as described.

3. The combination in a lock of a movable yoke or bolt,`a ratchet actuated by the yoke or bolt on its unlocking movement, a disk carried by the ratchet, a series of dogs or detents arranged on the periphery of the disk and a stop adapted to engage with the dogs or detents, each of the dogs or detents being constructed of plastic or compressible material and adapted to be thrown out of engagement with the stop by compression with a suitable key or unlocking device, substantially as described.

ll. The combination in a lock of a' movable yoke or bolt, one or more dogs or detents of plastic or coinpressible material controlling the yoke or bolt, a stop for such dogs or detents, a key for compressing the dogs or detents so as to throw them out of engagement with the stop, and means forlocking the key in the lock when it is inserted and releasing it when the lock is again closed, substantially as described.

W. FORREST HOMMAN,

Witnesses:

' LEONARD E. CURTIS, A. E. SKINNER. 

